Saturday, we rode again in the early morning. I did not ask to canter (so many days of not cantering it didn’t occur to me), but we did go up the road again. He was actually a little bit of a butt when a FedEx truck was trying to drive by (quite slowly I might add, thank you driver!). He just didn’t want to stand still. Gave me a lot of grief with his mouth wide open, lots of head shaking. When he got his teeth floated, he definitely had hooks and very tiny sores, but I did not see this type of attitude from him! Will have to continue to monitor.

With that in mind, switched up our schedule to Tuesday and Thursday this week. Last night we rode with our Micklem in bitless: he went surprisingly well. Listened very well, no mouth pain. Right lead canter was easy, no problems. Left lead, a bit better: you definitely notice a difference when you ask him on a straightaway (picks it up with no issue) versus on a corner (he’ll fight and crow hop and not want to go). When he actually does get the canter on the straightaway, it doesn’t feel lame or four beat. This is quite baffling to me.

My mother believes it is still his stifle, and not his hocks. I don’t know what to believe, to be honest, and not quite sure what to do. Do I keep trying to canter? Do we just continue what we’ve been doing with trot work, poles, and hills?

Top Posts & Pages

About Me

I've always had a love for horses and have grown up around them for almost all my life. Entering college, I pursued a degree in textile chemistry and have found another passion of all things fabric/textile-related. I love sharing information about marketing gimmicks, textile misconceptions, and how to spot a well-made item. So here we will combine all of the above!